Mum Takes Back Husband Who Raped Daughter, Says God Wants Daughter to Forgive Him
Little Becky Herbert, now 20, suffered four years of almost nightly rape by her paedophile father, David Manning, before he was prosecuted and jailed.
47-year-old Manning, who claims to be a Christian, repeatedly crept into her room to molest her, groping her from the age of 9 and turning to rape when she turned 11. A traumatized Becky said she tried to hang herself when she was 15; it was about this time that Davidâs crimes came to light and he was sentenced to jail for nine years.
Becky is furious as Manning has been freed after serving half of his sentence and has also been spotted back at the family home. According to Mirror UK, officials gave Manningâs return the green light, despite two of Beckyâs siblings still living at home.
More infuriating for Becky, however, is that her mum, Mandy Manning aged 47, same as David, allegedly believes God wants both her and Becky to forgive him. Becky says:
âI love my mum but sheâs told me that the past is the past and the Bible says I should forgive those who have sinned against me. I can never forgive the man who did this to me â never. He ÂŹcompletely destroyed me. I still wake in the night, shaking and drenched in sweat. Iâm not sure I can bear to have a baby since he showed me the evil an innocent child can suffer.â
Horrified Becky believes a hard-line evangelical church persuaded Mandy to rekindle her relationship with twisted David Manning.
The sales assistant who uses bakery worker Mandyâs maiden name to avoid being linked to her attacker, spent her childhood reading the Bible and going to Christian holiday camps. She was told sex before marriage was a sin even while she lived in fear of falling pregnant by her evil dad. She recalls:
âEvery month I felt sick with worry. But who would believe the word of a little girl against that of a man who read the Bible and went to church on Sundays?â
She however retains fond childhood memories of her mum, saying:
âI loved nothing more than going on shopping trips with her and she made such a fuss of me when it was my birthday.â
But factory worker Manning shattered her happiness when her body began to mature aged nine. She recalls:
âHe would grope my chest and I hated it. He told me he was just checking I was developing properly. I didnât know any better, so I accepted it.â
When Becky was 11 her dad raped her for the first time while Mandy was at work.
âI was on the bed playing with my teddies. Before I knew what was happening, heâd pulled my trousers down. I didnât understand what rape was but I knew what he was doing was wrong. I begged him to stop but he didnât listen. Afterwards I was in agony and shaking. I pulled my quilt over my head and hugged my teddy,â she recalls.
Becky suffered in silence for the next four years;
âIâd wake up in the middle of the night to find him lying on top of me. I begged him not to rape me but he told me it was our little secret. It affected every aspect of my life. I wanted to die. One day I got my school tie and wrapped it around my neck in the playground. I was wondering if I could reach to hang myself from the school gates. A friend stopped me but I didnât tell her what was wrong.â
She finally let it all out at the age of 15 while at a Christian camp in Cornwall.
âWe were singing hymns when I burst into tears and ran off. A friend followed me but I couldnât find the words to tell her so I wrote it down. She showed it to a camp leader and I was driven to a police station.â
Manning admitted seven sex offences, including rape, at Plymouth Crown Court in 2010. But this did not dissuade Mandy from loving her paedophile husband. Becky said:
âIt wasnât long before the church pastor suggested Mum should forgive Dad. He said she should love her husband more than she loved her children because we would all soon grow up and leave her. I felt utterly betrayed. Sheâd visit him in prison and ask if I wanted her to give him a hug from me. Sheâd tell me I should forgive dad. She said thatâs what Jesus would want. I was absolutely gobsmacked.â
Sadly Becky felt pushed to the wall and had to leave home:
“The final straw came when the pastor suggested Iâd made it all up because Dad was strict.I left home. I loved my mum, but I couldnât live with her if she wanted me to forgive my dad.â
Manning was released for good behavior this year. Becky said:
âWhen I heard he had gone back where my siblings still live Iâve never been so angry. I punched a wall so hard my knuckles bled. How could Mum think it was safe to let them sleep under the same roof as a pedophile, no matter what the church told her?â
Although a court order bans him from contacting Becky until 2019, the Ministry of Justice endorsed Manning as fit to move back into the family home with immediate effect. Becky, who is engaged to her factory worker boyfriend Jeff Bridges, 35, says,
âThat means I canât visit my mum. We canât have a proper relationship until she accepts I can never forgive him. She has chosen my rapist over me.â
Mandy on the other hand denied David was staying with her and claims that there are no children living in the house. She has however, sent criticizing text messages to her daughter Becky, on her decision to speak out against her father, accusing her of âdragging up a painful episode.â She concluded:Â âConsider yourself an orphan.â
i stand with the girl joor. Her mum is senseless. what do u need the dog man for? and yes you have chosen ur daughter’s rapist over her,she can do well without you
This guy is supposed to be kept at arms length, what business do you have with a man that destroyed your little girl??? Make use of your brain woman, damn it!!
People misunderstand what forgiveness is.I’m sure that pastor wouldn’t have done what he advised if he were to be in that position.Sure l will consider myself an orphan but 1st save my siblings from what I went through
Hmmm!
Hmmmmmmmmm I am so speechless that this woman would agree to take this man back. What sort of forgiveness is that? Must he be in the house to be forgiven?
Hmmm this is crazy!
Say what! Which kai forgiveness be that, the mother is senseless
Na Wao oooo!
Hmmmm
The mother is a fool and a daft,
Even the pastor if it’s true need to visit calvary
not accepted
prick don finish? She get mind. Will never do that. Dat man deserve life inprisonment
She should forgive her dad but she should have nothing to do with him again
hmmm
I bet u the pastor will never allow that man near his house talk less of allowing him near his own daughters. He’s an hypocrite, simple! Is this the meaning of forgiveness? The mum is d biggest fool so no need to comment about her
hmmm.useless woman really
She must be high
Toooo bad she betrayed her own daughter over a good for nothing man
She’s just stupid, infact compound fool.
yeye dey smell,stupid woman
Selfish creature. ..
she is foolish
Forgiveness my foot. What a father! Gosh!
Forgiveness my foot. What a father! Gosh!Meanwhile dat her mother is foolish. She’s not fit to be called a mother